Stand your ground claimed in Baldwin County case

BAY MINETTE, Alabama — When two men got into a road rage incident in Orange Beach on Aug. 2, 2012, one of the men pulled a gun and shot the other.

The men had a verbal exchange that included the man who was shot saying, '"I'll take that gun and shove up your a_ _,'" according to court documents.

The Orange Beach Police Department arrested Steven Pinson, 57, of Ono Island, on an attempted murder charge in the shooting of Damon Hembree, 46, of McCalla.

The Baldwin County District Attorney's Office presented the case to a grand jury. Pinson was indicted in 2013 on charges of first-degree and second-degree assault.

Pinson's attorneys say they will argue during trial Pinson feared for his safety when he shot Hembree and should be acquitted under Alabama's stand your ground Law.

The trial starts Monday morning and is expected to last three to four days. It will be held at the Baldwin County Courthouse in Bay Minette.

Baldwin County Assistant District Attorney Chalea Tisdale said she could not discuss why the prosecution thinks the shooting is a crime and not justified under the law.

"Quite frankly, that goes into facts of the case, which I am not really comfortable going into at this point," Tisdale said Friday. "It should come out during trial, but essentially we, obviously, disagree with what the defense is saying."

Scrutiny in Florida

Alabama's Stand Your Ground Law was enacted in 2006. It gives people the right to stand their ground and not retreat before using deadly force in certain situations.

Baldwin County Circuit Court Judge Jody Bishop decided not to dismiss the case.

"This is relatively new stuff new in Alabama," Salter said. "From here, it hasn't been litigated much like it has for example in Florida. We don't have the benefit as lawyers to a body of law that says, 'Well, here's the statute now what.'"

Several states have stand your ground laws, but it is Florida where the law has seen lots of scrutiny. Some of Florida's stand your ground cases and self-defense cases have made national news.

The most well-known of the cases is former neighborhood watch member George Zimmerman's shooting of Trayvon Martin, 17, in 2012. A jury acquitted Zimmerman.

Another Florida case being closely watched involves Marisa Alexander. She used Florida's stand your ground law as a defense after firing what she says was a warning shot during a 2010 incident with her estranged husband.

A jury convicted Alexander of criminal charges, but an appeals court granted her a new trial because the jury instructions on self-defense were erroneous.

Motion: Threats made, gun pulled, shot fired

The road rage incident in Orange Beach began on the Perdido Pass Bridge when Hembree was driving slower than the speed limit, police said.

Orange Beach police said the Hembree and Pinson exchanged rude gestures, and at one point, Pinson pulled in front of Hembree and slammed on brakes.

When the men's vehicles reached Alabama 182 and Alabama 161, Hembree exited his car and started to walk toward Pinson's truck.

The motion describes Hembree as being visibly angry and "shouting and cursing and making animated verbal threats of physical abuse."

As Hembree approached, Pinson pointed a gun "down to the roadway while admonishing and warning Mr. Hembree to desist," according the motion.

Hembree continued toward Pinson's vehicle "in his apparent effort to exercise his threats of bodily harm to (the) defendant," according to the court document.

The defense's argument is that when Pinson fired the shot, he reasonably feared for his safety, and he acted within "the letter and the spirit" of stand your ground.